Alumni

You are part of an elite family. More than 100,000 strong, University of Rochester alumni are making an impact around the world, including nearly 7,000 from the School of Nursing. No matter where you are, you will always be a valued member of the School of Nursing community. We hope that you’ll stay connected with classmates and faculty, come back and visit during Meliora Weekend, and find ways to support the next generation of UR nurses. You are our greatest success!

Alumni Services

A Legacy of Innovation

1925

The first director of nursing, Helen Wood, helps the University become one of the first in the country to offer a nursing diploma program.

1951

The Master of Science nursing degree program is created, laying the groundwork for the evolution of future clinical specialty programs.

1957

Eleanor Hall creates the Department of Nursing within the School of Medicine and Dentistry, a major step toward establishing an independent school.

1966

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program forms. Its graduates help to care for a growing number of children in the community, particularly the disadvantaged.

1972

An independent School is established and Dr. Loretta C. Ford is named its first dean. She also pioneers the unification model by bringing together education, practice and research under one academic umbrella.

1973

The Family Health Nurse Clinician Program begins as one of the only master’s programs in the country to prepare nurse practitioners in primary care.

1979

The PhD program— one of the first 15 in the country—admits its first students. Many others were patterned after Rochester’s highly focused and rigorous curriculum.

1982

By the end of 1982, 51 nursing faculty had completed the primary care nurse practitioner program. These efforts to prepare faculty in primary care strengthened the teaching base at Rochester and were influential in shaping the educational experiences of nursing students across the country.

1986

At the installation of Sheila Ryan as the second dean of the independent School of Nursing, Ryan says, “The University of Rochester School of Nursing is acclaimed for a successful model of faculty and practice collaboration called unification, recognized for advancing innovative nursing practices.”

1989

The School is first in the country to offer an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner program, after first developing the role in the late 1970s. Its graduates are now able to use the newly state-legislated title of “nurse practitioner.”

1990

The School gains a reputation for producing first rate clinical researchers who were heavily recruited as faculty. 90 percent of the students who applied for federal funding received it.

1995

A School-Based Health Center – staffed and supported by nurse practitioners from the School of Nursing— is established at East High School in 1995. Passport Health, a travel clinic which features travel immunizations and specialty vaccines, is also launched this year.

2000

Pat Chiverton is named dean for the School of Nursing.

2002

The Accelerated Bachelor’s and Master’s Programs for Non-Nurses accepts its first 22 students after the traditional bachelor’s program ends. Today there are nearly 200 students enrolled across three cohorts.

2006

The 28,000 square foot Loretta C. Ford education wing is completed. The project included adding a 175-seat auditorium, along with new and renovated classrooms with smart classroom technology.

2007

The first student enrolls in the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program, which enables advanced practice nurses to develop and lead improvements in health care delivery while remaining in clinical settings.

2011

With support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation New Careers in Nursing program, the Center for Academic and Professional Success (CAPS) opens to provide support, coaching and mentoring to students.

2012

The School of Nursing is selected to provide comprehensive wellness services to University of Rochester employees. Today, the employee wellness program has expanded its reach to serve additional organizations in the community, offering its services to more than 25,000 individuals.

2013

The School plays a key role in helping the Medical Center become the first in the country to establish an Institute for Innovative Education, which initiates new ways to educate nurses, physicians, and other health care professionals together as patient-centered teams.

2013

The School of Nursing launches a second School-Based Health Center at the Rochester City School District Frederick Douglass Campus.

2015

A new Master of Science in Nursing Education (MNE) program is created to address a shortage in nursing faculty. In the same year, the School of Nursing’s Center for Lifelong Learning unveils an online Care Manager Education Program, the first of its kind in the country to be offered by a University.